leonardcohenforum.com

Good morning, friends.

It's a bright, sunny morning here in Dublin on our national holiday -- happy St. Patrick's Day to one and all. We look forward to welcoming you all to our delightful city and beautiful country for the 2014 Leonard Cohen Event.

I'm delighted to report that Leonard's management have offered us one of the recorded concerts to be shown as part of the Event programme.

Last week a fascinating book about Dublin and its poets was launched: If Ever You Go: A Map of Dublin in Poetry and Song. Gerard Smyth, who will participate in the Spoken Word, is one of the editors. Dermot Bolger, who will facilitate the Spoken Word session wrote this delightful article:
http://www.herald.ie/lifestyle/if-you-e ... 79037.html

The book has also been chosen by Dublin City Council for the One Book One City 2014: http://www.dublincity.ie/Press/PressRel ... unced.aspx

So as you can see from the above Dublin is truly a city of "Poets and Singers".

Another new initiative to draw your attention to is the Dubline -- a walking route that takes visitors from the city centre to Kilmainham. There are 6 discovery zones on the Dubline each with their own identity, themes, stories and must-see attractions.

http://www.visitdublin.com/dubline/route_details

The Dubline finishes at Kilmainham in Dublin 8 where the Royal Hospital Kilmainham is to be found -- the holy grail for many of us as it was the place where we first saw our man in concert in June 2008. Dublin 8 is also home to the National Boxing Stadium, the venue where Leonard played his first Irish concert in March 1972. If I have my facts correct (open to correction folks) I think the date was March 16th, 1972.

Blessings on St. Patrick's Day, friends.

Paula

Looking great Paula! Thanks.

Happy St Patrick's Day to you and all who plan to attend in August.

Tom

thanks for the update paula…the dubline looks to be a great resource especially for first time visitors to the city…. so many places to see and things to do …i would like if I may to give a special mention for kilmainham gaol ….. i've visited the place a couple of times over the years and I think it's a great starting point to any trip to dublin it makes everywhere else you visit that more relevant and interesting….

my advice to anybody wanting to visit the gaol would be to get there early as the hour long tours are booked on first come first served and at 6 euros and it's the best 6 euros you will spend while in dublin (4 euros for our senior citizens)…although i do see that on the website groups of 10 or more can be booked in advance.......

a good plan for a very full morning of sightseeing before the start of the event's afternoon sessions would be to start the day by heading straight along the quays from the city centre and make kilmainham gaol your first stop of the day then afterwards visit the nearby museum of modern art and then for the more fanatical amongst us maybe a kiss on the muddy ground where leonard last played when he was in dublin…then the guinness store is just a 15 minute walk away heading back towards the city centre ….a rather full morning before you head over to liberty hall for the afternoon sessions….. ta ken

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/dublin/kilmainhamgaol/

Lonely Planet review
If you have any desire to understand Irish history – especially the bits about resistance to English rule – then a visit to this former prison is an absolute must. This threatening grey building, built between 1792 and 1795, has played a role in virtually every act of Ireland's painful path to independence.
The uprisings of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916 ended with the leaders' confinement here. Robert Emmet, Thomas Francis Meagher, Charles Stewart Parnell and the 1916 Easter Rising leaders were all visitors, but it was the executions in 1916 that most deeply etched the jail's name into the Irish consciousness. Of the 15 executions that took place between 3 May and 12 May after the revolt, 14 were conducted here. As a finale, prisoners from the Civil War were held here from 1922. The jail closed in 1924.
An excellent audiovisual introduction to the building is followed by a thought- provoking tour of the eerie prison, the largest unoccupied building of its kind in Europe. Sitting incongruously outside in the yard is the Asgard, the ship that successfully ran the British blockade to deliver arms to Nationalist forces in 1914. The tour finishes in the gloomy yard where the 1916 executions took place.

Thanks for the exciting news about the recorded concert and all the hints about places to go and sights to see - I'm sure we'll have a great time

Happy St. Patricks Day for all of you!
Conny